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Vote no on the charter school amendment, Sen. Hanger

Editorial Board, The News Leader
Published 8:21 a.m. ET Feb. 14, 2016

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State Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, is scheduled to vote Monday on a bill to send a charter school amendment to referendum. The amendment would take control of charter schools out of local hands.(Photo: Randall K. Wolf/The News Leader)Buy Photo

It is easy to see why our local school boards have passed resolutions against the charter school constitutional amendment Virginians likely will be voting on this fall.

School boards aren’t known to be charter-school friendly. Why would they want to divert their very limited resources toward something that is formed in protest to the work already being done in their schools? Board members would want to protect their own turfs and save their own faces, right?

In the cases of Augusta, Staunton and Waynesboro, we believe the motives are purer. Charter schools are already legal in Virginia — there just aren’t many of them. If passed, the amendment would take sole authority of approval for charter schools out of local hands and put it into those of a gubernatorial-appointed board.

The state could tell a locality to fund a charter school. State officials say this wouldn’t happen without community interest, but bypassing — and in fact undermining — local school boards is what the General Assembly is seeking to ask voters to do this fall. If this amendment passes, a small, vocal group could bring yet another large, unfunded mandate to a community without the approval of anyone who is accountable to local taxpayers.

The pro-charter school talking points are exaggerated and plopped under the mantra of “school choice.” In a Virginia House Republican Campaign Committee press release issued Friday Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, claimed that “charter schools significantly improve academic performance, boost college acceptance rates, and lead to more successful careers in life.” Some charter schools do, sure, Del. Landes. But the truth is that most charter schools perform no better than traditional public schools. The charter school record is mixed.

We find — just as with the General Assembly efforts to get taxpayers to help parents pay for private and home schooling — that the “school choice” movement supports a 21st century version of school segregation. The aim is not to strengthen schools that serve all students, but to funnel what’s best for children blessed with active parents and leave the scraps for those whose families do not value education — the very children who need thriving schools.

Del. Landes clearly believes that many of his constituents deserve just scraps and should be thankful to him for getting even that.

The charter school amendment coming to ballots this fall is yet another example of Virginia’s heavy-handed approach to adding to the state constitution. In 2006, the commonwealth added anti-gay marriage language to the constitution, though it was already illegal at the time.

This fall, we will be asked to do the same on right to work and charter school measures. Virginia is already a right-to-work state. As noted earlier, charter schools are already legal here.

Except for Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Millboro, our local General Assembly members have so far voted to bring the charter school amendments to our ballots. Education advocates have brought the votes closer than expected and not always following party lines. The House of Delegates voted Friday to send the charter school to referendum. Final Senate votes are expected Monday.

Sen. Emmett Hanger, R-Mount Solon, has a statesmanlike record of commitment to the greater good and not just GOP good. We hope his courage kicks in again and he changes his vote, which has previously been pro-amendment.

Our legislators who support the charter school amendment do so against the expressed wishes of our locally elected school board members.

Who are they listening to? A small movement of right-wingers who want state resources to go to exclusionary private and charter institutions, no matter what a locality wants? Or educators who are mandated and honored to serve all children, regardless of poverty level or ability?

You tell us.

Better yet, tell Sen. Hanger.

Our View represents the opinion of the newspaper’s editorial board, Roger Watson, president and publisher; David Fritz, executive editor; and Deona Landes Houff, community conversations editor.